Running Out

Zain had always been someone who thought independently and never liked the idea of bowing down to anyone. Though he was nowhere near being the strongest, he had always been someone who would rely on his ingenuity and tenacity to overcome the odds, and despite the fact that that hadn't been the case over the past month, that didn't determine his fighting spirit.

He bared through the pain as his head swung to the side due to the force of the impact. Seeing all of this, Kayden was finding it hard to contain his emotions. All he could do was stand by as one of his close friends got slapped across the face by the strongest first year. Of course, it wasn't like she was pulling back a little of her power when delivering the slap.

"Call me a bitch again, and I'll make sure you actually look like a miserable dog once I'm done with you," Kayla declared, spitting all over his face before standing back up straight.

"Now tell me, what do you know about the Shade?" She asked, looking away.

Hearing what she had said, Zain had raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"What? The Shade? I have no idea what that is!" He yelled, shaking his head.

"Hmm… What happened to that tough guy that called me a bitch? You seem more eager to help me after I've knocked some sense into you. That's good," she replied, nodding her head in approval.

'This bitch… the only reason I answered was because I really don't know who the hell they are. There's no reason for them to have me held here against my will if I can't help them with anything. But then again, I guess they won't believe what I said. Heck, even I wouldn't be stupid enough to believe the words that came out of my mouth if I was in their shoes,' Zain thought to himself, thinking about his actions.

"Do you really think I'm stupid?" Kayla asked, with a smirk on her face. "I have already interrogated one of you guys before. The motherfucker wouldn't say anything about you guys. But I have a feeling that I can make you take instead," she said, glancing in his direction.

"Oh yeah? And what makes you think that?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

The next second, Kayla had swung her hand out, aiming to strike Kayden right in the gut. Her movements were fast, faster than what Kayden had expected, as he was left unaware of her attempting to attack him until the punch had connected, causing his body to hunch forward in response, the air in his lungs being knocked out of his system in the process.

"If you don't agree to help me, then I'll kill your friend right here," she said with a smile on her face.

"Are you serious? You're bluffing. There's no way you'll-" before Zain could finish his sentence, Kayla had suddenly grabbed a hold of Kayden by the neck, activating her ability. In the process, her hand, which was clasped tightly against his neck, had caught ablaze, the heat of her flames burning their way through his skin and flesh. If it wasn't for his Mana, which was working to heal his injuries, and the fact that she was holding back, then who knows how Kayden might have ended up in all of this.

"Tell me what I want to know! Or else, you'll have front row seats to his funeral," she ordered, increasing the amount of Mana used to charge up her fire ability. Meanwhile, Kayden was yelling out in pain. Her grip around his throat was tight, threatening to crush his windpipe and other throat related organs under the force of her grip. Also, her flames were threatening to burn through his neck, decapitating him in the process.

'S-she's really gonna kill him if I don't do something about it!' Zain began to panic as he witnessed one of his friends being tormented like so, causing him to yell out to her, begging her to stop what she was doing before it was too late.

"I don't know anything about the Shade! You have to believe me! I swear! I swear on my life! Heck, I swear on my aunt's life! I don't know anything about them!" Zain yelled out, hoping this would be enough to make her stop.

"Still won't talk, huh?" She asked, glaring back at the red-haired teenager. "In that case, say goodbye to Kayden Williams," she said, and the next moment, her power had risen again as well, as Kayden screamed out louder than before. He could feel the heat of her flames burning through his flesh, and it was then that he decided to try something out himself.

[Werewolf Transformation Activated]

Before the flames could burn through the entirety of his neck, Kayden had activated his transformation ability, turning himself into a werewolf. The Mana and red energy flowing through his body worked quickly to heal his injuries around the neck region, while also giving him additional strength. He was hoping to take her by surprise with his transformation, and it looked to have worked, as he was then able to break himself free from her grip.

"I'll fucking kill you if you dare lay a hand on me again!" He yelled, though all that could be heard were the sound of grunts and growls. Kayla was unfazed by his sudden transformation. She knew that with her power, she could take him on at any point in time.

However, instead of attacking, her eyes shifted to the red-haired student seated in the chair, then towards the others who were standing in the room. Then, her attention then fell back on the werewolf.

"That Kumon kid knew nothing about them. And now, this guy knows nothing as well. Damn it!" She yelled, slamming her fist against a table.

Still, Kayden ensured to keep his guard up. He wouldn't know when she would decide to flip out and go after him or Zain again. At this point in time, he had to be prepared for anything.

"Release him and let him go. He's useless to us. And you, redhead, if you tell anything about this to anyone, I will be coming for your head," she said, before walking towards her bed and laying down on it. Her minions nodded their heads in response, granting Zain the freedom to leave the room. He looked around a couple times, thinking one of them might jump him while he wasn't looking. Then his gaze fell on Kayden.

The latter had canceled his werewolf transformation, turning himself back into a human after Kayla had ordered the other students to let Zain go. Looking at Zain, all Kayden could do was shake his head. Zain then left the room soon after, slamming the door behind himself.

"What's going on? Am I getting faulty information, or am I just letting all Shade agents free just like that? Oh my days," Kayla sighed to herself, contemplating her current train of actions ever since figuring out the existence of this secret society at the academy. At first, she couldn't care less about some rogue organization wrecking havoc, as long as it wouldn't affect herself in any possible way.

However, now her brother was involved in it all, and she was determined to bring him out of whatever it is that the Shade had planned.

Kayden was allowed to leave and head back to his dorm room not long after. Today has been quite a busy day, to say the least. In just one day, they had interrogated two first year students whom they assumed to be working for the Shade. Yet despite their efforts, they had been unable to discover any meaningful leads regarding the criminal organization.

Once he was back in his dorm room, his mind then went back to the fact that he and Paul were yet to have their sparring match. Thinking about this, it was then that he realized that Paul wasn't even in the dorm room.

His mind then wandered to the things Paul had said regarding his situationship with Kayla. Thinking about all of this, he shook his head in the end, shuddering in disgust as he tried his best to get a good night's sleep in preparation for tomorrow.

The next day, Kayden had woken up bright and early in the morning, and was about to head into the shower to get ready for classes for the day. However, upon getting off from bed, his eyes had wandered towards the two other beds in the room. Although Shawn was still sleeping, the other bed was left empty.

'Maybe he got up earlier than the rest of us and is already heading to class,' Kayden thought, before heading into the shower. Later on, Shawn had woken up from sleep, wondering the same thing as Kayden as he got ready to take a shower that morning as well.

It wasn't until Kayden was on his way to class for the day, when he had stumbled across a male student lying unconscious against the floor right outside their dorm room bleeding profusely, that he knew.

"What the hell happened to you?!" Kayden yelled out loud, as he bent down to pick him up before heading over to the infirmary for him to receive medical attention.

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I hope you all enjoyed the chapter.

I will try my best to be updating more consistently from now on.

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